1. Introduction
The different cancer radio- and chemotherapies have always been inspired by Paul Erlich’s Zauberkugel . Consequently, as long as new key molecules on different tumoral processes such as angiogenesis, cellular signaling, stemness, metastasis, and drug resistance and inflammation appeared, new specific single reagents and strategies rose up. We can summarize them all and make a starting lineup composed of alkylating agents, anti-metabolites, anti-tumor antibiotics, mitotic and topoisomerase inhibitors, growth factor inhibitors, corticosteroids, and immunological reagents. Nevertheless, despite the initial promising results on primary tumor shrinkage, non-desired effects, such as tumor resistance, relapse, metastases, and cytotoxicity, have been reported [ 1 ]. In consequence, many have been excluded from the first line of anticancer treatments, and a number of different new strategies attempt to overcome these drawbacks, such as personalized, combinatorial, or drug repurposing.
Adrenergic receptors (ARs) are a class of G-protein-coupled transmembrane receptors (GPCRs) that promote cellular proliferation and survival [ 2 ] when activated by small ligands such as the catecholamines, adrenaline and noradrenaline [ 3 ]. Unfortunately, overstimulation or signaling dysregulation of GPCRs frequently leads to cancer disease because of the alteration of processes such as survival and proliferation, immune system evasion, tumor angiogenesis, invasion, metastases, and drug resistance [ 4 ] ( Figure 1 A).
Propranolol (C 16 H 21 NO 2 ), as shown in Figure 1 B, is a relatively small molecule (259.349 g·mol −1 ) including a secondary amine group (PubChem CID: 4946). Propranolol is a nonspecific antagonist of β1 and β2 adrenergic receptors (ADRB1-2). Initially indicated for cardiac disorders, multiple clinical therapeutic properties outside of its first indication have been discovered throughout its nearly 60 years on the market. These properties include the ability to cross the blood–brain barrier (BBB) vasoconstriction, inhibition of angiogenesis, and induction of apoptosis [ 5 , 6 ]. In addition, accumulated publications and clinical trials point to its possible role as a regulator of the tumor microenvironment (see Section 2 . “Why propranolol?”). As a paradigmatic example, propranolol has become the most valuable player drug in the benign tumor infantile hemangioma (IH) (see Table S1 ).
Furthermore, the “ starting line up ” targets in cancer therapies have been: (1) the cell cycle (proliferative signaling, cell death, and replicative immortality), (2) cellular metabolism (the Warburg effect), (3) the tumor microenvironment (immune response, inflammation and, angiogenesis), and (4) multidrug resistance. We propose propranolol as a good “ fifth team player for pick and roll” strategies in anticancer combination therapies. This review highlights the therapeutic benefits of propranolol (alone or in combination) described on a broad landscape of cancer treatments in human trials, including benign and rare carcinomas.
2. Why Propranolol?
More than a century ago, scientists speculated that catecholamines, after binding selectively to receptor-like structures, caused their pharmacological actions. It was in 1948 when R. P. Ahlquist described, for the first time, the α-and β-adrenotropic receptors [ 7 ]. Some years later, Sir James Whyte Black, a Scottish pharmacologist at Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) in the UK, was searching for a chemically synthesized agent to interfere with catecholamines and, therefore, decrease the oxygen heart requirements and relieve the pain of angina. He was searching for a β-adrenergic blocker.
There were two main candidates: pronethalol and propranolol (also named ICI 45,520 or, since 1964, marketed as Inderal). The latter is a more potent derivative from the former and lacks the carcinogenicity found in animal models treated with pronethalol. Then, propranolol became a best-selling drug used to treat a wide range of cardiovascular diseases, such as arrhythmia, hypertension, and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Finally, in 1988, Sir James W. Black was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine for the creation of propranolol [ 8 ].
Nowadays, propranolol has fallen from the first line of treatment since it does not perform as well as other drugs. Nevertheless, evidence began to accumulate, paving the potential use (reposition) of propranolol as an antitumor drug. This use is supported by several case reports [ 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 ] that postulated the use of propranolol in a rare tumor-like pheochromocytoma to reduce hypertension generated by catecholamines’ secretion. Interestingly, these studies outlined (but did not relate) the absence of metastases and tumor growth amelioration without noticeable side effects, together with the normalization of the heart rate and blood pressure. A few years later, different reports started to show the clinical benefits of propranolol in different hyperproliferative diseases, such as astrocytomas [ 13 ], epidermoid carcinoma [ 14 , 15 ], and malignant insulinoma [ 16 ], lung adenocarcinoma [ 17 ], and breast cancer [ 18 ].
Nevertheless, propranolol continued on the “ sideline” as cardioprotective medicine until 2008, when Léauté-Labrèze et al. showed its clinical antiangiogenic therapeutic properties in 11 cases of infantile hemangioma (IH) [ 19 ]. IH is a benign vascular tumor with a 4–5% of prevalence in the neonate and affecting mainly the face and limbs. Before the advent of propranolol, IHs surgery was the only treatment if IHs were not spontaneously remitting. After several case reports and successful trials, Hemangiol (an oral liquid presentation of propranolol) was designated as a drug for IH treatment by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) in 2014 [ 20 , 21 , 22 ].
Furthermore, several in vitro and in vivo studies described the antitumor properties (viability, oxidative stress, or metabolic and immunity restoration) of propranolol in different carcinomas, including breast [ 23 ], colon [ 24 ], gastric [ 25 ], glioblastoma [ 26 ], lung [ 17 , 27 , 28 ], nasopharyngeal [ 29 ], ovarian [ 30 , 31 ], and pancreatic [ 25 , 32 , 33 , 34 ].
Propranolol has properties as a membrane stabilizer and is able to cross the blood– brain barrier due to its lipophilic nature [ 6 ]. In relation to its anti-tumoral properties, three main mechanisms have been described: vasoconstriction, the induction of apoptosis, and the inhibition of angiogenesis ( Figure 2 ).
2.1. Vasoconstriction
Adrenaline, via ADRB2, promotes vasodilation in pericytes and smooth muscle cells [ 35 ]. As a G-coupled protein receptor (GPCR), the α-subunit of the G-protein triggers adenylate cyclase (AC), converting ATP to cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP). The second messenger, cAMP, activates cAMP-dependent protein kinase A (PKA), which will phosphorylate the proteins modulating their activity. Propranolol reverses the action of adrenaline, causing vasoconstriction, reducing blood flow in the vessels feeding the tumor, and slowing its growth [ 36 ].
2.2. Inhibition of Angiogenesis
To the best of our knowledge, the complete mechanism of action of propranolol has not yet been revealed, but some steps and facts related to its antiangiogenic properties are beginning to be elucidated. The first description of the consequences (apoptosis) of treating endothelial cells with propranolol was in 2002 [ 37 ], but the true antiangiogenic data began in 2009 by Annabi et al. [ 38 ]. Since then, in vitro assays with endothelial cells from different tissues, such as the umbilical cord (human umbilical vein endothelial cells, HUVEC) [ 39 ], brain (human brain microvascular endothelial cells, HBMEC), embryonic stem cells [ 40 ], hemangioma [ 41 , 42 ] and its stem cell derivative, [ 43 , 44 , 45 ] and hemangioblastoma from von Hippel–Lindau (VHL) disease [ 46 , 47 ], from neuroblastoma [ 48 ] and white blood cells (leukemic and monocytes) [ 49 ], and in vivo assays on retinopathies [ 50 ] and vascular lesions [ 51 ] have demonstrated the antiangiogenic effects of propranolol. The research developed on these cells demonstrate that propranolol exerts direct antiangiogenic effects by decreasing the expression levels of key molecules on the angiogenic process, such as VGEF [ 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 46 , 49 , 50 ] and its receptor VEGFR [ 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 ], HIF1-α [ 40 , 46 , 50 ], bFGF [ 43 ], FGF-2 [ 40 ], MMP-9 [ 38 , 42 ], MMP-2 [ 39 , 49 ], EPO [ 46 ], p-cofilin [ 42 ], vascular markers as CD31 and VE-cadherin [ 40 ], and vascular regulators, such as eNOS and NO [ 40 ]. Propranolol also interferes in signaling pathways which end in the impairment of the angiogenic process; some of them are the following: cell cycle arrest by the downregulation of cyclins A2, D1–3 and the upregulation of p15, p21, and p27 [ 39 , 42 ], and the inhibition of the pI3K/Akt [ 41 , 42 ], p38/MAP [ 41 ], and ERK1/2 signaling pathways [ 39 ].
2.3. Induction of Apoptosis
Propranolol blocks ADRBs, inducing apoptosis in different cell types and tumors in vitro, e.g., in ECs [ 37 ], pancreatic carcinoma cells [ 32 ], gastric carcinoma [ 25 ], and breast cancer [ 52 ]. We hypothesized that β-adrenergic antagonists counteract the Src-MAPK-mediated inhibition of apoptosis caused by agonists by increasing apoptosis.
More recently, our group has shown that propranolol induces apoptosis in HeLa, renal carcinoma, and hemangioblastoma (HB) primary tumor cell cultures from patients with von Hippel–Lindau disease (VHL) [ 53 , 54 , 55 ]. The induction of apoptosis, therefore, would represent another favorable mechanism of propranolol action in the treatment of tumor processes.
3. Propranolol as Adjuvant Therapy at Single Administration in Clinical Trials
3.1. Infantile Hemangioma
Since the above-mentioned breakthrough of propranolol for IH in 2008 [ 19 ], 22 different clinical trials ( Table S1 ) have been registered in the EU, the USA, Australia, and New Zealand. These trials were mainly conducted in newborns and toddlers; only one of them included children up to 5 years of age. The results invariably show the success of propranolol in decreasing or eliminating IH. In these trials, propranolol was used from 1 to 3 mg/Kg body weight/day with a length of the treatment between 3 to 12 months.
In phase 2/3 ( NCT00744185 ), 14 patients were randomly assigned to the group receiving propranolol as monotherapy (seven patients) or placebo (seven patients). By the fourth week of treatment, IH growth had stopped in all infants in the propranolol group. There was a statistically significant difference between groups in the percentage change in IH thickness at week 4 [ 56 ]. The phase 2 trial ACTRN12611000004965 followed infants from 9 weeks to 5 years of age. Propranolol hydrochloride, administered orally at 2 mg/kg/day, reduced the volume, color, and focal and segmental elevation [ 57 ].
In 2010, Leaute Labreze initiated a phase 2/3 trial to demonstrate the efficacy and safety of systemic propranolol in infants with IH ( NCT01056341 ). Four hundred-sixty patients completed 24 weeks of oral propranolol at 3 mg/kg/day. The data showed a higher frequency of treatment success with propranolol (60% vs. 4%, p < 0.001). Additionally, known adverse events associated with propranolol (hypoglycemia, hypotension, bradycardia, and bronchospasm) occurred occasionally, with no significant differences in their frequency between the groups [ 22 ].
A single-arm, phase 3-multinational study was conducted in patients aged from 35 to 150 days with high-risk IH (EudraCT Number: 2014-005555-80) [ 58 ]. The study comprised a 6-month initial treatment period (ITP) plus a continuation until 12 months of age. The patients received oral propranolol twice daily (3 mg/kg/day). The results showed a success rate of 47% at 6 months, which increased to 76% at the end of the ITP. Of the patients who achieved success, 68% continued for 3 months without treatment, and 24% required retreatment. Adverse events, reported by 80% of the patients, were mild and expected in this population related to known side effects of propranolol. The conclusions of this trial were that long-term propranolol administration significantly increased the success rate in high-risk IH. Success was sustained in most patients up to 3 months after stopping the treatment. Retreatment was effective, and the safety profile was satisfactory. Following these satisfactory results with relatively mild side effects, the EMA authorized, in 2014, the designation of Hemangiol as a new commercial presentation of propranolol (an oral liquid presentation of propranolol adapted for infants) for the treatment of IH.
A comparison between propranolol and previous reagents for IH has also been performed. The efficacy of prednisolone was compared with that of propranolol in two phase 2 trials, NCT00967226 [ 59 ] and NCT01908972 [ 60 ]. The results showed similar efficacy in reducing IH proliferation. While prednisolone showed a faster response rate, propranolol was better tolerated with significantly fewer severe adverse events, leading to the conclusion that propranolol should be the first line of IH unless propranolol was not tolerated ( Table S1 ).
Atenolol, a specific ADRB1-blocker, has also been analyzed in two phase 3 trials, NCT02342275 [ 61 ] and NCT03237637 [ 62 ]. The former was a prospective, multicenter, randomized, controlled, open-label clinical trial conducted in collaboration between six different research centers in China. A total of 377 patients were randomized to the propranolol (190) or atenolol (187) groups. Data analysis revealed that atenolol had similar efficacy to propranolol and fewer adverse events in the treatment of infants with problematic IHs, suggesting that oral atenolol could be used as an alternative systemic treatment for IH patients. However, the latter was initiated in 2017, and no results are yet available to corroborate or contradict the previous trial ( Table S1 ).
In the event of an emergency, a safe and rapid initiation protocol seems crucial. The latter is even more true in those cases in which a pediatric cardiology consultation is required. Therefore, a retrospective, longitudinal, descriptive, and observational phase 4 study was conducted, including 154 children under 2 years old and hospitalized for the introduction of Hemangiol ( NCT04105517 ). The trial evaluated the safety, effectiveness, tolerance, and cardiological changes. The results obtained showed that no severe adverse events occurred in the rapid protocol and that there was good cardiac tolerance [ 63 ].
3.2. Propranolol for Solid Tumors
Preoperative Propranolol in Breast Cancer
Imitating the initial applications of propranolol on pheochromocytoma, it has also been used as a preoperative adjuvant in breast cancer. Metastases are the main cause of death in breast cancer patients, a process that may be inhibited by β-blockers, according to preclinical studies [ 64 , 65 ]. The randomized phase 2 study (ACTRN12615000889550) investigated whether, compared with a placebo, preoperative propranolol (7 days) modified its cancer gene expression. The conclusions were that one week of propranolol reduced intratumoral mesenchymal polarization and promoted immune cell infiltration in early-stage surgically resectable breast cancer. These results show that the ADRB-blockade reduces the biomarkers associated with metastatic potential, and they support the need for larger phase 3 clinical trials to detect the impact of the ADRB-blockade on cancer recurrence and survival.
In phase 2 NCT02596867 , the aim was to evaluate the effect of propranolol on reducing the tumor proliferative index using Ki-67 as a biomarker, as well as the effect on safety, toxicity, and adherence to propranolol [ 66 ]. The results showed that propranolol decreased the expression of the pro-proliferative Ki-67 and the pro-survival Bcl-2 markers and increased pro-apoptotic p53 expression in a patient with stage III breast cancer. Molecular analysis revealed that the ADRB-antagonism disrupted the cell cycle progression and steady-state levels of cyclins. Furthermore, the propranolol treatment of breast cancer cells increased p53 levels, enhanced caspases cleavage, and induced apoptosis.
3.3. Propranolol for Non-Solid Tumors
Multiple Myeloma
A two-armed phase 2 trial was conducted to analyze the efficacy of propranolol in decreasing the gene expression of stress-mediated β-adrenergic effects in 25 individuals with multiple myeloma who received an autologous hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) ( NCT02420223 ) [ 67 , 68 ]. The preclinical research showed that the stress-induced activation of the sympathetic nervous system could promote hematopoietic malignancies through ADRB-mediated molecular pathways. HCT recipients exposed to chronic stress showed the activation of a conserved transcriptional response to adversity (CTRA) gene expression profile associated with disease-free survival. This randomized controlled phase 2 biomarker trial tested the impact of propranolol on CTRA-related gene expression. Propranolol was administered for 1 week prior to and 4 weeks after HCT, and propranolol-treated patients showed greater decreases from the baseline to HCT day −2 and day +28 for both CTRA genes. The changes in these pathways make propranolol a potential candidate for adjunctive therapy in cancer-related HCT ( Figure 3 ).
3.4. Propranolol in Observational Studies
Since propranolol has not yet been approved for malignant tumors, observational studies where propranolol has been used are included in Table S2 . Among them, four were related to IH and one to pediatric cancers. NCT04105517 is a phase 4 Hemangiol postmarketing study conducted to look for adverse events in 500 children treated with propranolol for IH. Retrospective NCT04651049 collects parameters of the physiological development in children treated with propranolol due to IH. The only observational study including pediatric cancer is NCT02165683 , where propranolol was used as an adjuvant with standard chemotherapies for different pediatric cancers. The aim of this study was to reduce the fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG)-positron emission tomography (PET) uptake as an indicator of improvement in cancer treatment. As seen in Table S2 , no results are available, although the studies have been completed.
4. Propranolol in Combinatorial Therapy
Early studies using propranolol in combination with other reagents, apart from the case reports already discussed in pheochromocytoma, sought to reduce preoperative stress in rats and, thereby, enhance the antitumor response of the chemotherapeutic agent (synergistic effect). The hypothesis was that secreted catecholamines and prostaglandins under stress conditions: (i) impair the host cell-mediated immunity (CMI) driven by NK cells, (ii) trigger inflammatory processes leading to angiogenic responses, and (iii) fuel tumor growth [ 69 , 70 , 71 , 72 ]. Therefore, a preoperational combination of an ADRB-blockade with propranolol, plus treatment with the COX-2 inhibitor, Celecoxib, would reduce lung metastases, enhance the antitumor activity of the NK cells, and increase the survival rates in different xenografts, as has already occurred [ 69 , 73 , 74 ].
Furthermore, new trials have been supporting the synergistic effect of propranolol as an adjuvant in combination therapies with cytotoxic 5-FU [ 23 ], TKI sunitinib [ 75 ], an anti-PD-1 [ 76 ] plus IL-2, the electron transport chain inhibitor, metformin [ 77 ], and the glycolysis inhibitor, 2DG [ 78 ].
All this has inspired an increasing number of clinical trials investigating the use of propranolol as an antiangiogenic drug in combination with some other anticancer drugs used as a plausible tumor therapy in pre- and post-operative patients. Some of these clinical trials described below appear to be promising combination therapies for different angiogenesis-related diseases, although most of them have either not been completed or have not yet shown conclusive results.
4.1. Propranolol and Etodolac (COX-2 Inhibitor)
Propranolol has been used in combination with Etodolac, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) that acts as a competitive inhibitor of Cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2), in four different studies as a preoperative combination therapy with propranolol for colorectal, pancreatic, and breast neoplasms.
4.1.1. Breast Cancer
The results of the randomized, placebo-controlled, multicenter trial in women undergoing breast cancer surgery ( NCT00502684 ), with 38 patients treated from pre-operative day 3 to post-operative day 2, showed a decrease in tumor cell migration capacity and subsequent metastasis by reducing the epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT), premetastatic/proinflammatory transcription factors, such as GATA-1 and the early-growth response-3/EGR3, tumor-infiltrating monocytes, and inflammatory cytokines, such as IL-6 [ 79 , 80 , 81 ] ( Table S3 ). The primary clinical endpoint was the 5-year recurrence rate, but no results related to this outcome have been published yet. Notably, no adverse effects have been observed so far.
4.1.2. Colorectal Cancer
The multicentered, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 3 trial, with 34 colorectal cancer patients treated for 20 consecutive days, starting 5 days before tumor extraction, showed a reduction in the stress-inflammatory response by a preoperatively combined therapy of propranolol and etodolac, and during colorectal cancer surgery, a decreased metastatic risk [ 82 ]. Two other clinical trials, NCT00888797 [ 83 ], a prospective multicenter randomized phase 3, and NTC03919461 [ 84 ], a double-blind placebo-controlled two-arm phase 2 with 400 and 200 colorectal cancer patients, respectively, are parallel trials to the one described above ( Table S3 ). Although these trials have not yet been completed and the results of these trials have not been published, the primary outcomes are local and distant, or a metastatic recurrence rate at three years and disease-free survival at three years, overall survival at five years, and biomarkers in the blood samples.
4.1.3. Pancreatic Cancer
The results obtained in the above-mentioned trial ( NCT00502684 ) on breast cancer [ 82 , 83 ] aimed to run a randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled two-arm interventional human trial ( NCT03838029 ) [ 85 ] ( Table S3 ). This phase 2 trial is expected to have 210 pancreatic cancer patients undergoing curative surgery. Perioperative treatment with propranolol and etodolac will be performed for 35 days and initiated 5 days before surgery. The primary outcome measures are a cancer recurrence rate of up to 60 months after surgery, EMT, immune cell markers, and inflammatory cytokine levels in the blood samples for one year after surgery.
4.1.4. Neuroblastoma
Neuroblastoma is one of the most frequent causes of cancer death in childhood, and there is an urgent need to find a suitable therapy with low toxicity. The trial NCT02641314 is a randomized phase 2 of metronomic chemotherapy in 26 patients aged 2 to 21 years old and newly diagnosed with high-risk neuroblastoma that progressed despite prior treatment ( Table S3 ). In this clinical trial, propranolol is used in combination with four drugs: the immunomodulating drug Celecoxib (which modulates the immune response by acting as an anti-inflammatory and inhibiting COX-2) and chemotherapeutic drugs, such as cyclophosphamide, etoposide, and vinblastine. During the trial, the doses and timing of each of these vary. The primary outcome is to demonstrate that this therapeutic combination could reduce the progression and/or recurrence from the start of the treatment up to 12 months. This phase 2 is based on a first study described by Berthold et al. (2017), in which they treated, with the same drug combination, except for propranolol, 20 patients with recurrent and refractory high-risk neuroblastoma [ 86 ]. They concluded that the secondary event-free and survival curves had no significant differences and that this metronomic approach is similarly effective as the standard treatment but with lower toxicity. These results allowed the development of the new ongoing clinical trial in which propranolol has been added as a fifth non-toxic antiangiogenic drug. The primary and secondary outcomes include a non-inferiority of event-free survival and a disease control rate at 6 months and overall survival at 12 months.
4.2. Propranolol and Prednisolone (Corticosteroid)
Among the clinical trials conducted in IH, there is one with the combined therapy of prednisolone (a standard corticosteroid treatment) and propranolol, NCT01074437 [ 87 ] ( Table S3 ). In this phase 2, with 9 patients enrolled, standard treatment with corticosteroid alone was compared with a placebo and combination therapy of propranolol and prednisolone. Although the idea was promising, no results were obtained because of insufficient enrollees to perform the randomization, which limited the number of participants and made the project unfeasible. At present, there are no ongoing combination trials of propranolol for HI.
4.3. Propranolol and Standard Chemotherapy
The following clinical trials have not published results or are active at the time of writing this review, as explained above. Although we cannot conclude about the therapeutical benefits, these trials point to the fact that propranolol is gaining weight in the field of cancer therapies.
4.3.1. Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC)
The phase 2 trial NCT01265576 is active ( Table S3 ) and studies sorafenib, a tyrosine kinase inhibitor for patients with advanced HCC and with or without VT-122 (propranolol plus etodolac already mixed as a coadministration drug) [ 88 ]. The aim of this study is to assess whether the use of VT-122 is safe and effective in cachectic patients with advanced HCC and systemic inflammation and whether the treatment can improve both survival and quality of life. In the two experimental groups, sorafenib with placebo and sorafenib plus VT-122, all the participants in the sorafenib group will be treated at least 30 days prior to the randomization. The results are not reported at this time.
4.3.2. Ovarian Cancer
NCT01504126 is an early phase 1 trial in patients with ovarian, primary peritoneal, or fallopian tube cancer treated with a combination of propranolol and standard chemotherapy (paclitaxel/carboplatin) [ 89 ] ( Table S3 ). Thirty-two participants (including stages II to IV of the above tumor types) are enrolled. Serum levels of IL-6, IL-8, and VEGF will be measured as changes in the immune response from the baseline (the treatment initiation and before the surgery) to 6 months in patients who successfully complete six cycles of chemotherapy in the absence of disease progression or toxicity.
The combination of chemotherapy with propranolol resulted in improved quality of life, with particular emphasis on anxiety. A decrease in inflammatory biomarkers was also observed [ 90 ].
4.3.3. Breast Cancer
NCT01847001 is a clinical trial involving 10 patients [ 91 ] ( Table S3 ). The patients received two types of chemotherapy regimens: paclitaxel or doxorubicin, and cyclophosphamide, both plus a propranolol treatment. After completion, they underwent surgery to remove the breast tumor. As adverse events, one patient suffered gastrointestinal disorders and neutropenia after the treatment and resection, and two of them suffered other cardiac disorders. The results support the combination feasibility of propranolol (up to 80 mg ER) with neoadjuvant taxane/anthracycline-based chemotherapy.
4.3.4. Esophageal Adenocarcinoma
The ongoing parallel randomized phase 2 NCT04682158 combines propranolol with the standard chemoradiation of carboplatin and paclitaxel for esophageal adenocarcinoma on 60 patients ( Table S3 ). The primary outcome of this phase 2 is the survival and progression for up to 5 years, and it is actively recruiting patients [ 90 ].
4.3.5. Sarcoma and Melanoma
The NCT03384836 single-group, phase 1b/2, studies the side effects, toxicity, and efficacy of propranolol administered together with pembrolizumab (the monoclonal antibody used to boost the anti-tumor immune response) ( Table S3 ). The treatment is planned for 47 patients with stage IIIC-IV melanomas that cannot be removed by surgery. The primary endpoint measures are adverse events, the treatment dose toxicity, and the overall response rate, analyzing the levels of some biomarkers from the baseline to 2 years [ 92 ].
4.3.6. Bladder Cancer
A randomized controlled clinical trial in patients with bladder cancer, NCT04493489 , considered the tenth most common cancer in the world and investigated the safety, efficacy, metastasis inhibition capacity, and efficiency in improving patient survival after bladder cancer surgery of propranolol in adjuvant therapy with BCG (Bacillus Calmette–Guerin) [ 93 ] ( Table S3 ). This is a parallel assignment phase 2 with a placebo or control group (with no propranolol co-treatment and following the same treatment protocol as the intervention group). The trial group takes BCG and propranolol orally for 2 consecutive years after transurethral resection of the bladder tumor. The primary endpoint is a recurrence-free survival at two years. No results have been reported so far.
4.3.7. Diverse Tumors
The recognition of new avenues for propranolol in different types of cancer as combined therapy with the standard use of chemotherapeutic agents, COX-2 inhibitors, or other types of drugs is promising and has sparked interest in this compound. The results of ongoing clinical trials and new trials are needed to demonstrate the antitumor benefits of propranolol in combination therapy ( Table 1 ) ( Figure 4 ).
5. Conclusions
From the review of registered clinical trials and their resulting literature, several conclusions can be listed regarding the potential use of propranolol as a valid and useful molecule in the treatment of benign and malignant cancers, as follows: - The ADBR1-2 antagonist propranolol has emerged as a candidate treatment for several tumor processes. Although its mechanism of action has yet to be investigated, it is proposed as an adjuvant drug at single administration or in combined therapies due to its safety profile and therapeutic experience that support its use. - The potential therapeutic value of propranolol is supported by its intervention in physiological and molecular mechanisms, such as vasodilatation, apoptosis, or angiogenesis. - Propranolol was tested in several clinical trials for IH at different doses, the timing of treatment, and comparing it to current pharmacological treatments of IH prior to propranolol. In almost all the cases, propranolol showed therapeutic benefits and no side effects. - The EMA gave the marketing authorization to Hemangiol (oral propranolol) after a multicenter phase 3 clinical trial for the treatment of IH. Afterward, propranolol has also been used in monotherapy and combination therapy in different clinical trials to treat different types of tumors. - Among the solid tumors other than IH, the use of propranolol to prevent tumor dissemination and reduce metastasis as a preoperative treatment prior to surgeries in breast, prostate, and ovarian cancer, stands out.
It is important to underline that the majority of the clinical trials with propranolol included a relatively small sample size or are still ongoing (i.e., the results are not yet available). Therefore, future, larger randomized controlled clinical studies specifically focused on propranolol remain necessary.
Despite the limitations of the ongoing clinical trials, the sum of the evidence accumulated for over half a century strongly points to the fact that propranolol could be an ideal team player in combinatorial therapies for different tumor processes. More specifically, it could be used in combination with drugs that interfere with cell division, inflammation, immunotherapy, and antibodies against tumor targets.
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Supplementary Materials
The following supporting information can be downloaded at: https://www.mdpi.com/article/10.3390/jcm11154539/s1 , Table S1: Propranolol treatment in clinical trials in Infantile Hemangioma disease; Table S2: Propranolol in observational trials. Table S3: Propranolol as adjuvant therapy at single administration or combinatorial treatment clinical trials.
Click here for additional data file.
Author Contributions
Conceptualization, A.M.C., V.A. and L.M.B.; writing—original draft preparation, A.M.C., L.M.B. and V.A.; writing—review and editing, A.M.C., L.M.B., V.A., E.G.-V., L.R.-P. and J.C.-V. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
Institutional Review Board Statement
The study was conducted according to the guidelines of the Declaration of Helsinki and approved by the Ethics Committee of the National Research Council of Spain (CSIC), number 075-2017.
Informed Consent Statement
Not applicable.
Conflicts of Interest
The authors declare no conflict of interest, and the funders had no role in the design of the study, in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of the data, in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results.
References
1. Hanahan D. Weinberg R.A. Hallmarks of cancer: The next generation Cell 2011 144 646 674 10.1016/j.cell.2011.02.013 21376230
2. Bockaert J. Pin J.P. Molecular tinkering of G protein-coupled receptors: An evolutionary success EMBO J. 1999 18 1723 1729 10.1093/emboj/18.7.1723 10202136 PMC1171258
3. Vilardaga J.P. Bünemann M. Feinstein T.N. Lambert N. Nikolaev V.O. Engelhardt S. Lohse M.J. Hoffmann C. Minireview: GPCR and G proteins: Drug efficacy and activation in live cells Mol. Endocrinol. 2009 23 590 599 10.1210/me.2008-0204 19196832 PMC5419261
4. Arang N. Gutkind J.S. G Protein-Coupled receptors and heterotrimeric G proteins as cancer drivers FEBS Lett. 2020 594 4201 4232 10.1002/1873-3468.14017 33270228 PMC8849590
5. Black J.W. Crowther A.F. Shanks R.G. Smith L.H. Dornhorst A.C. A new adrenergic. Beta-receptor antagonist Lancet 1964 1 1080 1081 10.1016/S0140-6736(64)91275-9 14132613
6. Olesen J. Hertz M. Isoproterenol and propranolol: Ability to cross the blood-brain barrier and effects on cerebral circulation in man Stroke 1978 9 344 349 10.1161/01.STR.9.4.344 209581
7. Ahlquist R.P. A Study of the Adrenotropic Receptors Am. J. Physiol. 1948 153 586 600 10.1152/ajplegacy.1948.153.3.586 18882199
8. Stapleton M.P. Sir James Black and Propranolol the Role of the Basic Sciences in the History of Cardiovascular Pharmacology Tex. Heart Inst. J. 1997 24 336 342 9456487 PMC325477
9. Prichard B.N.C. Ross E.J. Use of propranolol in conjunction with alpha receptor blocking drugs in pheochromocytoma Am. J. Cardiol. 1966 18 394 398 10.1016/0002-9149(66)90061-0 5925096
10. Boréus L.O. Broberger U. Nergårdh A. Zetterqvist P. Malignant pheochromocytoma in a child: Treatment with a combination of alpha- and beta-adrenergic blockade Acta Paediatr. 1968 57 36 40 10.1111/j.1651-2227.1968.tb07283.x 4230012
11. Scharf Y. Nahir A.M. Better O.S. Koten A. Arieh Y.B. Gellei B. Prolonged survival in malignant pheochromocytoma of the organ of zuckerkandl with pharmacological treatment Cancer 1973 31 746 750 10.1002/1097-0142(197303)31:3<746::AID-CNCR2820310339>3.0.CO;2-1 4693602
12. Yoshida S. Hatori M. Noshiro T. Kimura N. Kokubun S. Twenty-six-years’ survival with multiple bone metastasis of malignant pheochromocytoma Arch. Orthop. Trauma. Surg. 2001 121 598 600 10.1007/s004020100305 11768644
13. Clark R.B. Perkins J.P. Regulation of Adenosine 3’:5’-Cyclic Monophosphate Concentration in Cultured Human Astrocytoma Cells by Catecholamines and Histamine Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 1971 68 2757 2760 10.1073/pnas.68.11.2757 4330940 PMC389518
14. Kelly L.A. Butcher R.W. Studies on Cyclic AMP Metabolism in Human Epidermoid Carcinoma (HEp-2) Cells Metabolism 1975 24 359 368 10.1016/0026-0495(75)90116-X 165357
15. Delavier-Klutchko C. Hoebeke J. Strosberg A.D. The Human Carcinoma Cell Line A431 Possesses Large Numbers of Functional β-Adrenergic Receptors FEBS Lett. 1984 169 151 155 10.1016/0014-5793(84)80308-7 6143691
16. Blum I. Rusecki Y. Doron M. Lahav M. Laron Z. Atsmon A. Evidence for a Therapeutic Effect of Dl-Propranolol in Benign and Malignant Insulinoma: Report of Three Cases J. Endocrinol. Investig. 1983 6 41 45 10.1007/BF03350559 6302161
17. Schuller H.M. Cole B. Regulation of cell proliferation by β-adrenergjc receptors in a human lung adenocarcinoma cell line Carcinogenesis 1989 10 1753 1755 10.1093/carcin/10.9.1753 2569945
18. Slotkin T.A. Zhang J. Dancel R. Garcia S.J. Willis C. Seidler F.J. Beta-adrenoceptor signaling and its control of cell replication in MDA-MB-231 human breast cancer cells Breast Cancer Res. Treat. 2000 60 153 166 10.1023/A:1006338232150 10845278
19. Léauté-Labrèze C. de la Roque E.D. Hubiche T. Boralevi F. Thambo J.-B. Taïeb A. Propranolol for Severe Hemangiomas of Infancy N. Engl. J. Med. 2008 358 2649 2651 10.1056/NEJMc0708819 18550886
20. Storch C.H. Hoeger P.H. Propranolol for infantile haemangiomas: Insights into the molecular mechanisms of action Br. J. Dermatol. 2010 163 269 274 10.1111/j.1365-2133.2010.09848.x 20456345
21. Sánchez-Carpintero I. Ruiz-Rodriguez R. López-Gutiérrez J.C. Propranolol in the treatment of infantile hemangioma: Clinical effectiveness, risks, and recommendations Actas Dermo-Sifiliográficas 2011 102 766 779 10.1016/j.ad.2011.05.003 21774911
22. Léauté-Labrèze C. Hoeger P. Mazereeuw-Hautier J. Guibaud L. Baselga E. Posiunas G. Phillips R.J. Caceres H. Lopez Gutierrez J.C. Ballona R. A Randomized, Controlled Trial of Oral Propranolol in Infantile Hemangioma N. Engl. J. Med. 2015 372 735 746 10.1056/NEJMoa1404710 25693013
23. Pasquier E. Ciccolini J. Carre M. Giacometti S. Fanciullino R. Pouchy C. Montero M.P. Serdjebi C. Kavallaris M. André N. Propranolol potentiates the anti-angiogenic effects and antitumor efficacy of chemotherapy agents: Implication in breast cancer treatment Oncotarget 2011 2 797 809 10.18632/oncotarget.343 22006582 PMC3248157
24. Masur K. Niggemann B. Zanker K.S. Entschladen F. Norepinephrine-induced migration of SW 480 colon carcinoma cells is inhibited by β-blockers Cancer Res. 2001 61 2866 2869 11306460
25. Liao X. Che X. Zhao W. Zhang D. Bi T. Wang G. The β-adrenoceptor antagonist, propranolol, induces human gastric cancer cell apoptosis and cell cycle arrest via inhibiting nuclear factor κB signaling Oncol. Rep. 2010 24 1669 1676 21042766 10.3892/or_00001032
26. Kim H.S. Park Y.H. Lee H.S. Kwon M.J. Song J.H. Chang I.B. Propranolol inhibits the proliferation of human glioblastoma cell lines through notch1 and hes1 signaling system J. Korean Neurosurg. Soc. 2021 64 716 725 10.3340/jkns.2021.0068 34376038 PMC8435645
27. Schuller H.M. Porter B. Riechert A. Beta-adrenergic modulation of NNK-induced lung carcinogenesis in hamsters J. Cancer Res. Clin. Oncol. 2000 126 624 630 10.1007/PL00008474 11079726 PMC12165142
28. Park P.G. Merryman J. Orloff M. Schuller H.M. β-Adrenergic Mitogenic Signal Transduction in Peripheral Lung Adenocarcinoma: Implications for Individuals with Preexisting Chronic Lung Disease Cancer Res. 1995 55 3504 3508 7627955
29. Yang E.V. Sood A.K. Chen M. Li Y. Eubank T.D. Marsh C.B. Jewell S. Flavahan N.A. Morrison C. Yeh P.E. Norepinephrine up-regulates the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor, matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2, and MMP-9 in nasopharyngeal carcinoma tumor cells Cancer Res. 2006 66 10357 10364 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-06-2496 17079456
30. Sood A.K. Bhatty R. Kamat A.A. Landen C.N. Han L. Thaker P.H. Li Y. Gershenson D.M. Lutgendorf S. Cole S.W. Stress hormone-mediated invasion of ovarian cancer cells Clin. Cancer Res. 2006 12 369 375 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-05-1698 16428474 PMC3141061
31. Sloan E.K. Priceman S.J. Cox B.F. Yu S. Pimentel M.A. Tangkanangnukul V. Arevalo J.M.G. Morizono K. Karanikolas B.D.W. Wu L. The sympathetic nervous system induces a metastatic switch in primary breast cancer Cancer Res. 2010 70 7042 7052 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-10-0522 20823155 PMC2940980
32. Zhang D. Ma Q. Shen S. Hu H. Inhibition of Pancreatic Cancer Cell Proliferation by Propranolol Occurs Through Apoptosis Induction Pancreas 2009 38 94 100 10.1097/MPA.0b013e318184f50c 19106745
33. Al-Wadei H.A. Al-Wadei M.H. Schuller H.M. Prevention of pancreatic cancer by the beta-blocker propranolol Anticancer Drugs 2009 20 477 482 10.1097/CAD.0b013e32832bd1e3 19387337 PMC3366433
34. Zhang D. Ma Q.Y. Hu H.T. Zhang M. β2-adrenergic antagonists suppress pancreatic cancer cell invasion by inhibiting CREB, NFκB and AP-1 Cancer Biol. Ther. 2010 10 19 29 10.4161/cbt.10.1.11944 20424515
35. Westfall T.C. Westfall D.P. Neurotransmission: The autonomic and somatic motor nervous systems Goodman and Gilman’s the Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics 11th ed. McGraw-Hill New York, NY, USA 2006
36. Westfall T.C. Westfall D.P. Adrenergic agonists and antagonists Goodman and Gilman’s the Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics 11th ed. McGraw-Hill New York, NY, USA 2006
37. Sommers Smith S.K. Smith D.M. Beta blockade induces apoptosis in cultured capillary endothelial cells Vitr. Cell Dev. Biol. Anim. 2002 38 298 304 10.1290/1071-2690(2002)038<0298:BBIAIC>2.0.CO;2 12418927
38. Annabi B. Lachambre M.P. Plouffe K. Moumdjian R. Béliveau R. Propranolol Adrenergic Blockade Inhibits Human Brain Endothelial Cells Tubulogenesis and Matrix Metalloproteinase-9 Secretion Pharmacol. Res. 2009 60 438 445 10.1016/j.phrs.2009.05.005 19467330
39. Lamy S. Lachambre M.P. Lord-Dufour S. Béliveau R. Propranolol Suppresses Angiogenesis in Vitro: Inhibition of Proliferation, Migration, and Differentiation of Endothelial Cells Vasc. Pharmacol. 2010 53 200 208 10.1016/j.vph.2010.08.002 20732454
40. Sharifpanah F. Saliu F. Bekhite M.M. Wartenberg M. Sauer H. β-Adrenergic receptor antagonists inhibit vasculogenesis of embryonic stem cells by downregulation of nitric oxide generation and interference with VEGF signalling Cell Tissue Res. 2014 358 443 452 10.1007/s00441-014-1976-8 25130141
41. Chim H. Armijo B.S. Miller E. Gliniak C. Serret M.A. Gosain A.K. Propranolol Induces Regression of Hemangioma Cells through HIF-1α-Mediated Inhibition of VEGF-A Ann. Surg. 2012 256 146 156 10.1097/SLA.0b013e318254ce7a 22580939
42. Pan W.K. Li P. Guo Z.T. Huang Q. Gao Y. Propranolol Induces Regression of Hemangioma Cells via the Down-Regulation of the PI3K/Akt/ENOS/VEGF Pathway Pediatr. Blood Cancer 2015 62 1414 1420 10.1002/pbc.25453 25728347
43. Zhang L. Mai H.M. Zheng J. Zheng J.W. Wang Y.A. Qin Z.P. Li K.L. Propranolol Inhibits Angiogenesis via Down-Regulating the Expression of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor in Hemangioma Derived Stem Cell Int. J. Clin. Exp. Pathol. 2013 7 48 55 24427325 PMC3885459
44. Munabi N.C. England R.W. Edwards A.K. Kitajewski A.A. Tan Q.K. Weinstein A. Kung J.E. Wilcox M. Kitajewski J.K. Shawber C.J. Propranolol Targets Hemangioma Stem Cells via cAMP and Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Regulation Stem Cells Transl. Med. 2016 5 45 55 10.5966/sctm.2015-0076 26574555 PMC4704871
45. Wong A. Hardy K.L. Kitajewski A.M. Shawber C.J. Kitajewski J.K. Wu J.K. Propranolol accelerates adipogenesis in hemangioma stem cells and causes apoptosis of hemangioma endothelial cells Plast. Reconstr. Surg. 2012 130 1012 1021 10.1097/PRS.0b013e318267d3db 23096601 PMC3668332
46. Albiñana V. Villar Gómez De Las Heras K. Serrano-Heras G. Segura T. Perona-Moratalla A.B. Mota-Pérez M. de Campos J.M. Botella L.M. Propranolol Reduces Viability and Induces Apoptosis in Hemangioblastoma Cells from von Hippel-Lindau Patients Orphanet J. Rare Dis. 2015 10 118 10.1186/s13023-015-0343-5 26394686 PMC4579575
47. Cuesta A.M. Albiñana V. Gallardo-Vara E. Recio-Poveda L. de Rojas-P I. de Las Heras K.V.G. Aguirre D.T. Botella L.M. The Β2-Adrenergic Receptor Antagonist ICI-118,551 Blocks the Constitutively Activated HIF Signalling in Hemangioblastomas from von Hippel-Lindau Disease Sci. Rep. 2019 9 10062 10.1038/s41598-019-46448-6 31296894 PMC6624208
48. Pasquier E. Street J. Pouchy C. Carre M. Gifford A.J. Murray J. Norris M.D. Trahair T. Andre N. Kavallaris M. B-Blockers Increase Response to Chemotherapy via Direct Antitumour and Anti-Angiogenic Mechanisms in Neuroblastoma Br. J. Cancer 2013 108 2485 2494 10.1038/bjc.2013.205 23695022 PMC3694229
49. Hajighasemi F. Hajighasemi S. Effect of Propranolol on Angiogenic Factors in Human Hematopoietic Cell Lines in Vitro Iran. Biomed. J. 2009 13 223 228 19946348
50. Ristori C. Filippi L. dal Monte M. Martini D. Cammalleri M. Fortunato P. la Marca G. Fiorini P. Bagnoli P. Role of the Adrenergic System in a Mouse Model of Oxygen-Induced Retinopathy: Antiangiogenic Effects of β-Adrenoreceptor Blockade Investig. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci. 2011 52 155 170 10.1167/iovs.10-5536 20739470
51. Chisholm K.M. Chang K.W. Truong M.T. Kwok S. West R.B. Heerema-Mckenney A.E. β-Adrenergic Receptor Expression in Vascular Tumors Mod. Pathol. 2012 25 1446 1451 10.1038/modpathol.2012.108 22743651
52. Xie W.Y. He R.H. Zhang J. He Y.J. Wan Z. Zhou C.F. Tang Y.J. Li Z. McLeod H.L. Liu J. β-blockers inhibit the viability of breast cancer cells by regulating the ERK/COX-2 signaling pathway and the drug response is affected by ADRB2 single-nucleotide polymorphisms Oncol. Rep. 2019 41 341 350 10.3892/or.2018.6830 30542705
53. Albiñana V. Escribano R.M.J. Soler I. Padial L.R. Recio-Poveda L. Villar Gómez De Las Heras K. Botella L.M. Repurposing propranolol as a drug for the treatment of retinal haemangioblastomas in von Hippel-Lindau disease Orphanet J. Rare Dis. 2017 12 122 10.1186/s13023-017-0664-7 28662711 PMC5492903
54. Albiñana V. Gallardo-Vara E. de Rojas-P I. Recio-Poveda L. Aguado T. Canto-Cano A. Aguirre D.T. Serra M.M. González-Peramato P. Martínez-Piñeiro L. Targeting β2-Adrenergic Receptors Shows Therapeutical Benefits in Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma from Von Hippel–Lindau Disease J. Clin. Med. 2020 9 2740 10.3390/jcm9092740 32854260 PMC7563408
55. González-Rodríguez B. De Las Heras K.V.G. Aguirre D.T. Rodríguez-Padial L. Albiñana V. Recio-Poveda L. Cuesta A.M. Botella L.M. Jiménez-Escribano R.M. Evaluation of the safety and effectiveness of oral propranolol in patients with von Hippel-Lindau disease and retinal hemangioblastomas: Phase III clinical trial BMJ Open Ophthalmol. 2019 4 e000203 10.1136/bmjophth-2018-000203 31245608 PMC6557078
56. Léauté-Labrèze C. Dumas De La Roque E. Nacka F. Abouelfath A. Grenier N. Rebola M. Ezzedine K. Moore N. Double-blind randomized pilot trial evaluating the efficacy of oral propranolol on infantile haemangiomas in infants < 4 months of age Br. J. Dermatol. 2013 169 181 183 23301692 10.1111/bjd.12217
57. Hogeling M. Adams S. Wargon O. A randomized controlled trial of propranolol for infantile hemangiomas Pediatrics 2011 128 e259-66 10.1542/peds.2010-0029 21788220
58. Baselga E. Dembowska-Baginska B. Przewratil P. González-Enseñat M.A. Wyrzykowski D. Torrelo A. Gutiérrez J.C.L. Rychłowska-Pruszynska M. De Lucas-Laguna R. Esteve-Martinez A. Efficacy of propranolol between 6 and 12 months of age in high-risk infantile hemangioma Pediatrics 2018 142 e20173866 10.1542/peds.2017-3866 30082451
59. Bauman N.M. McCarter R.J. Guzzetta P.C. Shin J.J. Oh A.K. Preciado D.A. He J. Greene E.A. Puttgen K.B. Propranolol vs prednisolone for symptomatic proliferating infantile hemangiomas: A randomized clinical trial JAMA Otolaryngol. Head Neck Surg. 2014 140 323 330 10.1001/jamaoto.2013.6723 24526257
60. Kim K.H. Choi T.H. Choi Y. Park Y.W. Hong K.Y. Kim D.Y. Choe Y.S. Lee H. Cheon J.E. Park J.B. Comparison of efficacy and safety between propranolol and steroid for infantile hemangioma: A randomized clinical trial JAMA Dermatol. 2017 153 529 536 10.1001/jamadermatol.2017.0250 28423174 PMC5817616
61. Ji Y. Chen S. Yang K. Zhang X. Zhou J. Li L. Xiang B. Qiu T. Dai S. Jiang X. Efficacy and Safety of Propranolol vs Atenolol in Infants with Problematic Infantile Hemangiomas: A Randomized Clinical Trial JAMA Otolaryngol. Head Neck Surg. 2021 147 599 607 10.1001/jamaoto.2021.0454 33856430 PMC8050788
62. NIH, US National Library of Medicine Available online: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03237637 (accessed on 14 June 2022)
63. Socchi F. Bigorre M. Normandin M. Captier G. Bessis D. Mondain M. Blanchet C. Akkari M. Amedro P. Gavotto A. Hemangiol in infantile haemangioma: A paediatric post-marketing surveillance drug study Br. J. Clin. Pharmacol. 2021 87 1970 1980 10.1111/bcp.14593 33118199
64. Hiller J.G. Cole S.W. Crone E.M. Byrne D.J. Shackleford D.M. Pang J.M.B. Henderson M.A. Nightingale S.S. Ho K.M. Myles P.S. Preoperative β-blockade with propranolol reduces biomarkers of metastasis in breast cancer: A phase II randomized trial Clin. Cancer Res. 2020 26 1803 1811 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-19-2641 31754048
65. Spini A. Roberto G. Gini R. Bartolini C. Bazzani L. Donnini S. Crispino S. Ziche M. Evidence of β-blockers drug repurposing for the treatment of triple negative breast cancer: A systematic review Neoplasma 2019 66 963 970 10.4149/neo_2019_190110N34 31607128
66. Montoya A. Varela-Ramirez A. Dickerson E. Pasquier E. Torabi A. Aguilera R. Nahleh Z. Bryan B. The beta adrenergic receptor antagonist propranolol alters mitogenic and apoptotic signaling in late stage breast cancer Biomed. J. 2019 42 155 165 10.1016/j.bj.2019.02.003 31466709 PMC6717753
67. Knight J.M. Kerswill S.A. Hari P. Cole S.W. Logan B.R. D’Souza A. Shah N.N. Horowitz M.M. Stolley M.R. Sloan E.K. Repurposing existing medications as cancer therapy: Design and feasibility of a randomized pilot investigating propranolol administration in patients receiving hematopoietic cell transplantation BMC Cancer 2018 18 593 10.1186/s12885-018-4509-0 29793446 PMC5968588
68. Knight J.M. Rizzo J.D. Hari P. Pasquini M.C. Giles K.E. D’Souza A. Logan B.R. Hamadani M. Chhabra S. Dhakal B. Propranolol inhibits molecular risk markers in HCT recipients: A phase 2 randomized controlled biomarker trial Blood Adv. 2020 4 467 476 10.1182/bloodadvances.2019000765 32027744 PMC7013267
69. Benish M. Bartal I. Goldfarb Y. Levi B. Avraham R. Raz A. Ben-Eliyahu S. Perioperative use of β-blockers and COX-2 inhibitors may improve immune competence and reduce the risk of tumor metastasis Ann. Surg. Oncol. 2008 15 2042 2052 10.1245/s10434-008-9890-5 18398660 PMC3872002
70. Fitzgerald P.J. Norepinephrine release may play a critical role in the warburg effect: An integrative model of tumorigenesis Neoplasma 2020 67 947 957 10.4149/neo_2020_200422N432 32453599
71. Scheff N.N. Saloman J.L. Neuroimmunology of cancer and associated symptomology Immunol. Cell Biol. 2021 99 949 961 10.1111/imcb.12496 34355434 PMC9250294
72. Jara-Gutiérrez Á. Baladrón V. The role of prostaglandins in different types of cancer Cells 2021 10 1487 10.3390/cells10061487 34199169 PMC8231512
73. Glasner A. Avraham R. Rosenne E. Benish M. Zmora O. Shemer S. Meiboom H. Ben-Eliyahu S. Improving Survival Rates in Two Models of Spontaneous Postoperative Metastasis in Mice by Combined Administration of a β-Adrenergic Antagonist and a Cyclooxygenase-2 Inhibitor J. Immunol. 2010 184 2449 2457 10.4049/jimmunol.0903301 20124103
74. Goldfarb Y. Sorski L. Benish M. Levi B. Melamed R. Ben-Eliyahu S. Improving Postoperative Immune Status and Resistance to Cancer Metastasis Ann. Surg. 2011 253 798 810 10.1097/SLA.0b013e318211d7b5 21475023
75. Kuang X. Qi M. Peng C. Zhou C. Su J. Zeng W. Liu H. Zhang J. Chen M. Shen M. Propranolol enhanced the anti-tumor effect of sunitinib by inhibiting proliferation and inducing G0/G1/S phase arrest in malignant melanoma Oncotarget 2017 9 802 811 10.18632/oncotarget.22696 29416656 PMC5787512
76. Kokolus K.M. Zhang Y. Sivik J.M. Schmeck C. Zhu J. Repasky E.A. Drabick J.J. Schell T.D. Beta blocker use correlates with better overall survival in metastatic melanoma patients and improves the efficacy of immunotherapies in mice Oncoimmunology 2017 7 e1405205 10.1080/2162402X.2017.1405205 29399407 PMC5790362
77. Rico M. Baglioni M. Bondarenko M. Laluce N.C. Rozados V. André N. Carré M. Scharovsky O.G. Márquez M.M. Metformin and propranolol combination prevents cancer progression and metastasis in different breast cancer models Oncotarget 2017 8 2874 2889 10.18632/oncotarget.13760 27926515 PMC5356849
78. Brohée L. Peulen O. Nusgens B. Castronovo V. Thiry M. Colige A.C. Deroanne C.F. Propranolol sensitizes prostate cancer cells to glucose metabolism inhibition and prevents cancer progression Sci. Rep. 2018 8 7050 10.1038/s41598-018-25340-9 29728578 PMC5935740
79. NIH, US National Library of Medicine Available online: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02013492 (accessed on 14 June 2022)
80. Haldar R. Shaashua L. Lavon H. Lyons Y.A. Zmora O. Sharon E. Birnbaum Y. Allweis T. Sood A.K. Barshack I. Perioperative inhibition of β-adrenergic and COX2 signaling in a clinical trial in breast cancer patients improves tumor Ki-67 expression, serum cytokine levels, and PBMCs transcriptome Brain Behav. Immun. 2018 73 294 309 10.1016/j.bbi.2018.05.014 29800703
81. Shaashua L. Shabat-Simon M. Haldar R. Matzner P. Zmora O. Shabtai M. Sharon E. Allweis T. Barshack I. Hayman L. Perioperative COX-2 and β-adrenergic blockade improves metastatic biomarkers in breast cancer patients in a phase-II randomized trial Clin. Cancer Res. 2017 23 4651 4661 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-17-0152 28490464 PMC5559335
82. Haldar R. Ricon-Becker I. Radin A. Gutman M. Cole S.W. Zmora O. Ben-Eliyahu S. Perioperative COX2 and β-adrenergic blockade improves biomarkers of tumor metastasis, immunity, and inflammation in colorectal cancer: A randomized controlled trial Cancer 2020 126 3991 4001 10.1002/cncr.32950 32533792
83. NIH, US National Library of Medicine Available online: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00888797 (accessed on 14 June 2022)
84. NIH, US National Library of Medicine Available online: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03919461 (accessed on 14 June 2022)
85. NIH, US National Library of Medicine Available online: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03838029 (accessed on 14 June 2022)
86. Berthold F. Hömberg M. Proleskovskaya I. Mazanek P. Belogurova M. Ernst A. Sterba J. Metronomic therapy has low toxicity and is as effective as current standard treatment for recurrent high-risk neuroblastoma Pediatr. Hematol. Oncol. 2017 34 308 319 10.1080/08880018.2017.1373314 29148865
87. NIH, US National Library of Medicine Available online: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/study/NCT01074437 (accessed on 14 June 2022)
88. NIH, US National Library of Medicine Available online: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01265576 (accessed on 14 June 2022)
89. Ramondetta L.M. Hu W. Thaker P.H. Urbauer D.L. Chisholm G.B. Westin S.N. Sun Y. Ramirez P.T. Fleming N. Sahai S.K. Prospective pilot trial with combination of propranolol with chemotherapy in patients with epithelial ovarian cancer and evaluation on circulating immune cell gene expression Gynecol. Oncol. 2019 154 524 530 10.1016/j.ygyno.2019.07.004 31353053 PMC6867685
90. NIH, US National Library of Medicine Available online: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04682158 (accessed on 14 June 2022)
91. Hopson M.B. Lee S. Accordino M. Trivedi M. Maurer M. Crew K.D. Hershman D.L. Kalinsky K. Phase II study of propranolol feasibility with neoadjuvant chemotherapy in patients with newly diagnosed breast cancer Breast Cancer Res. Treat. 2021 188 427 432 10.1007/s10549-021-06210-x 33837871
92. NIH, US National Library of Medicine Available online: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03384836 (accessed on 14 June 2022)
93. NIH, US National Library of Medicine Available online: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04493489 (accessed on 14 June 2022)